As automation reshapes the business landscape, Is your company staying ahead or lagging due to low-impact, time-consuming tasks? According to a study, business leaders spend about one-third of their time on mundane, repetitive tasks during an average workday.
As organizations widely embrace process automation, there is a growing shift towards intelligent process automation(IPA) because of the tremendous advantages it brings to the table. By 2024, the business process automation market is expected to reach $15.2 billion; no wonder why this technology is taking the business world by storm.
What is intelligent process automation?
Intelligent process automation means automating complex business processes with the help of bots with minimal human input. Bots are built to perform mundane tasks faster and more intelligently than human resources. Hence, the time to perform repetitive and complex tasks is reduced, errors are minimized, and accuracy is optimized. This way, IPA becomes an inevitable tool in cost-cutting and increasing the overall efficiency of business operations.
From robotic process automation to intelligent process automation – The real deal
While robotic process automation helps automate repetitive tasks, intelligent process automation has unlocked greater capabilities. IPA leverages integrated technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotic process automation, now GenAI, to make smarter decisions, predict outcomes, and execute more complex automation systems that continuously learn and improve to develop more agile business operations.
In a technologically sound world where innovation and staying relevant are critical, the shift to intelligent process automation offers businesses the competitive edge they need to stay ahead.
Benefits of intelligent process automation
Productivity
The most obvious advantage of intelligent process automation is optimized productivity. About 78% of business leaders believe automating tasks has boosted organizational productivity. In addition, GenAI-driven workflows can analyze vast amounts of data, detect anomalies, predict trends, and identify opportunities with unparalleled precision and speed, boosting productivity to another level.
Cost savings
One of the most enticing automation outcomes is cost reduction. 57% of IT leaders say that intelligent process automation saves 10-50% on the business costs associated with manual processing. The significant cost reduction is due to increased processing speed and, importantly, reduced errors.
As digital workers handle all the repetitive work, employees can focus on highly creative tasks requiring undivided human attention. Since more work is exploited with fewer resources, the wages can be reinvested in high-impact tasks, yielding better ROI.
Employee satisfaction
Most employees feel that handling repetitive, mundane tasks over time makes their work monotonous and triggers fatigue. With intelligent process automation, employees are free from routine tasks and can focus on problem-solving and data-driven decision-making.
Another exciting aspect of intelligent automation is that employees can extract vital information from large volumes of data using simple, query-based techniques. IPA makes data more accessible while cultivating a positive and satisfactory employee experience.
Customer satisfaction
The top priority of any business is catering to its customers, as they are the most essential stakeholders. As customer data continuously varies, handling it manually can be very challenging. Any company should invest in the automation of customer intelligence as it can help gain deeper insights into customer behavior and purchasing trends, allowing them to deliver personalized offerings.
Intelligent automation will enable businesses to process customer data in real-time, allowing them to make quicker, more confident decisions, ultimately helping them offer a satisfactory customer experience.
Here is the roadmap to getting started on your intelligent process automation journey.
Clear Vision
Understanding the organization’s vision is the key to successful automation. Business leaders must have a clear idea of the two criteria mentioned below. The first is unlocking the ‘why’ behind the process, and the second is ‘how’ this automation will aid in accomplishing the organization’s long-term goals. Finding answers to these questions solves half the hassle. Once the objectives are set, it is essential to establish suitable KPIs to measure the success of automation.
Identification of automation prospects
Not all tasks should be automated, and automating a task may not magically improve its efficiency. It is vital to comprehend the outcome before automating a task; a reasonable amount of time must be invested in identifying suitable prospect tasks for automation.
Take a minute to reflect. Does the task involve decision-making based on varying data? Is the task repetitive and time-consuming? Does the task involve continuous learning based on historical data? Answering these questions will help you build a list of functions that can enhance efficiency with automation.
Choosing the proper intelligent process automation tools
The automation journey is filled with different but complementary technologies like RPA, AI, and ML. The catch lies in identifying and implementing the right tools that align with your automation objectives.
A concept called the unique spectrum of work is widely used to identify suitable tools. Choosing the right technology should be based on the nature of the work, which can be categorized as repetitive, administrative, or expert.
Repetitive work
Repetitive work involves routine, rule-based tasks that do not require high technical knowledge. Low-code automation technology can easily mimic repetitive functions; hence, robotic process automation (RPA) is ideal for automating such tasks.
Administrative work
Administrative work involves all document processing and back-office management tasks, which often comprise multiple forms of data, structured, unstructured, and semi-structured, with exceptions for each case. Given the complexity, automation powered by AI and ML will best suit such tasks.
Expert work
Expert work involves data-driven tasks that automation cannot handle alone. These tasks demand processing and analyzing massive volumes of data, which require human validation in the final decision-making stage. For such tasks, RPA clubbed with AI and ML can be the best choice for automation so that employees can shift their focus towards high-level strategic initiatives.
Getting your team on board
Another common problem that causes resistance to automation is fear. There is a misconception that automation will take away their jobs, so emphasis must be placed on educating them on how automation will add more value to them by improving operational efficiency.
Tackling the reluctance to change is as important as implementing a new technology. Eliminating the resistance does not happen overnight; efforts must be carried out right from the beginning of the automation journey. Beginning with pilot projects can be a great start, as successful pilot projects can serve as testimonials to overcome employee skepticism.
Training and upskilling opportunities
Implementing IPA simplifies workflows and removes the burden on employees; providing hands-on training to equip them with the practical application of these technologies is necessary.
Organizations should proactively maintain good rapport with the automation solution provider they partner with so that any support that involves adopting the new technology can be immediately rectified.
If employees tend to spend too much time navigating the automation platform, it is a sign that something needs to be fixed with the implementation strategy. In that case, an organization must try to understand the underlying cause and take corrective actions to rectify it.
Creating a collaborative environment
Ensuring transparency throughout the whole automation journey process is crucial. Any change in approach, framework, and progress must be reasonably communicated instead of being a mere announcement. Hence, the management must conduct timely feedback sessions to understand the key concerns and evaluate whether the automation solution aligns with the team’s needs.
Another best practice is encouraging cross-functional team activities, which can break the silos and help in the smooth flow of operations. Cross-functional teams can help employees share best practices and create better identification and navigation through an automation platform.
Monitoring and evaluation
The most crucial part of the automation journey is post-automation; workflow performance tracking is vital because it can help you identify inefficiencies and bottlenecks initially. Leverage custom dashboards for analyzing and tracking performance in real-time. Adopting a transformative technology does not end with implementation; it is good to reiterate and re-engineer the process workflows with the evolving priorities of the organization.
How can XDAS help?
Xtract Data Automation Suite (XDAS) incorporates Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) to enhance data processing across business operations. Our GenAI-powered automation suite empowers data-driven teams to process large volumes of unstructured data and unify them in a single platform. The platform is designed to streamline complex workflows and make data accessible for instant insights.
With 200+ customizable workflows, XDAS automates advanced processes, ensuring seamless data integration, eliminating data silos, and enhancing efficiency. Our scalable IPA solutions offer flexible capabilities to meet the needs of evolving business challenges, making XDAS the leading choice for intelligent process automation.
Conclusion
Embarking on intelligent process automation should be viewed as an evolving journey rather than a final destination. Implementing automation initiatives can generate promising results such as elevated operational efficiency, optimized productivity, and better ROI.
Intelligent process automation must be embraced as a tool for streamlined business operations, not as a standalone solution. Organizations must foster a culture that embraces change and commit to staying relevant to new technological advancements to thrive in a competitive business ecosystem.
